HILO, Hawai'i – The Concordia University Irvine men's basketball team fended off a furious rally by the host University of Hawaii Hilo Vulcans on Friday night and hung on for a 72-66 victory.
CUI moved to 5-4 on the year and 2-1 in PacWest play by finishing its three-game road trip out in Hawai'i with its second win of the week.
The Eagles led by double digits with a handful of minutes to play but the Vulcans navigated their way back to within 68-66 with just 20 seconds left.
After hitting a layup in traffic down the stretch while getting fouled, senior
Kayle Knuckles converted three free throws in the final 20 seconds to help CUI secure the win. It was an important closeout for the Eagles
who defeated HPU on Monday and then on Friday broke through against a team that had been receiving votes in the D2SIDA West Regional rankings.
Newly Crowned PacWest Player of the Week Wayne Arnold finished with 18 points to lead the Green and Gold, while
Jalen Sanders finished with 11. Meanwhile,
Cameron Fini and
Matthew Weyand combined for 14 points off the bench.
Rodrick McCobb had a hand in the early offense to help the visiting Eagles jump ahead 9-4. The Ontario, Calif. native picked a pocket and secured a steal before flipping the ball to Sanders for a layup and CUI's first points of the game.
Moments later, McCobb cut to the rim for a breakaway slam off a touchdown pass from
Wayne Arnold to put CUI up 4-2. The Colony High School alum then sank a trey after the first media timeout to give the Green and Gold some brief breathing room. He finished with 16 points and a team-best +16 on the night.
After UHH trimmed the lead to just one point at 11-10, CUI produced a 15-2 run bookended by a jumper from
Joshua Caston and a three-ball from Sanders. By halftime, CUI held a 37-30 lead.
As it turned out with the Vulcans late rally, the Eagles would need every basket to escape on this evening.
"Starting out the season over here on the islands is no easy task, so I'm proud of the fact that we got two wins over here," admitted CUI head coach
Ken Ammann. "It's definitely an exhausting three games and I thought our guys really competed well this week.
Jalen Sanders played outstanding against Hilo in particular and made a ton of plays on both ends for us."
Arnold began the week
leading all of NCAA DII in scoring with 27.7 points per game. He has now scored at least 18 in all nine of CUI's games so far this year.
The Eagles will return to action at home this coming Thursday, Dec. 9 against Academy of Art. The men's game will start at 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest at 5 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time HERE.
CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's basketball schedule
